Concourse E broke ground on two super green projects last December in Atlanta that intend to move beyond LEED and into a greener realm of living. Committed to the Architecture 2030 Challenge, Concourse E homes will consume roughly 60-90% less energy than comparable sized conventional homes. Concourse E owner Jeff Demetriou instilled the company with the idea that a modern home is not truly modern unless it takes the environment into account. Hence, Concourse E uses its own green building classification system called Greensphere. The company rating system has three levels, 1-3, with 3 being the best. Both of the projects you see below have descriptions from the website and are Greensphere 3 rated projects.

The Vento Residences has earned North America’s first LEED Platinum* certification for a multi-family residential project. Located in Calgary, Alberta and built for a price of $8 million, this multi-use urban infill project has 20 two-story townhouse suites that are situated above retail space. Interestingly, the development was coming online at the same time as several other developments in the area and sold out quickly at a slight premium in price (compared to the competition). Purchasers identified with the dark green units and bought them up in a heartbeat.

Previously we wrote about High Street Philadelphia, which is a super-green, mixed use community being developed by home(scale). They sent me some new renderings pictured above and below, and the hope is that they’ll be able to see this project to a reality. High Street is aiming for LEED Platinum certification, the highest designation bestowed by the USGBC, and will feature 51 carbon-neutral residential units, 3 commercial units, a cafe and organic grocery, and underground parking.

Units will feature high design and contemporary materials from such brands as Duravit, Hansgroghe, Schiffini, and Fisher Paykel. They will be offered at affordable prices, or "work-force pricing," too. It’s going to be an excellent, net-zero energy development with courtyards, photovoltaic power, solar hot water, LED lighting, efficient systems, green roofs, bio-mass filtration, and access to the Philly CarShare program.

The renderings in this article are of BaleHaus by ModCell. This UK concept springs from the three positions that we need to: (1) live within our environmental means, (2) maintain a healthy and comfortable quality of life, and (3) build strong communities. Stated otherwise, the BaleHaus is meant to provide good, comfortable living with a guilt-free eco-conscience. BaleHaus is super-insulated, boxy and functional, and geared towards communal living. More renderings below …

This is the San Francisco Sunset Idea House for 2007, and it's one of the first LEED Certified residential remodeled homes in the nation. This home is unique from other Sunset Idea Houses in that it's in a dense urban area on a compact site. There are two-units and the smaller one, which is about 1,200 sf, is reportedly on sale for $1,089,000. No word on whether the larger, 3,600 sf unit will be for sale.

Cascade Built recently finished construction on Jackson Place Townhomes, a two-unit, urban infill project built to LEED Silver certification (currently only registered). As you can tell, it has that undeniable modern appeal, which is stylishly intertwined with green construction and design. For $485,000, you could walk away with one of these 2 bedroom, 1.75 bath, 1260 sf townhomes. Good design is a like a square footage multiplier — the better the design, the smaller your space requirements.